Must Win Game #2: Capitals

The Montreal Canadiens will play 5 games in the next 7 nights in what will likely determine their inclusion or exclusion from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Habs aren’t making it easy on themselves after losing their first of 10 must win games against the bottom dwelling Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tonight they face a similar team in the Washington Captials. A team equipped with Calder Trophy shoe-in Alexander Ovechkin. A team that beat the Canadiens 5-1 this year.

The Canadiens will be without Francis Bouillon for at least the next two games. Andrei Markov’s status is still undetermined and that doesn’t bode well for Les Habitants. Andrei Markov is arguably the Canadiens MVP and without him they struggle considerably.

The Pittsburgh game had to have been an eye opener because if they continue on this route they will not play in late April. Washington is an absolute MUST WIN game. The Habs have dropped 3 straight games and with little time left a loss to the Capitals could be disastrous.

Sorry but it’s over! We will lose tonight and both Leaf games, unless you can put on skates and score us a couple of goals. This team can’t score for squat. We got 1 guy with 24 goals, that’s pathetic in the new NHL. 24 GOALS ???
We had a chance to pull the trigger on Bertuzzi and we didn’t do it. Bertuzzi would have been an asset in front of the net. I’m sure everyone’s thinking “that’s not a great move” but he can score at least 30+. For God’s sake man the last time we had a 50 goal scorer was Richer. That’s 1990, 16 years ago, this is the year of 2006. RIP and good luck in the off season. Time for Bob to get his head outta his ass!

Gainey was smart not to get Bertuzzi, Montreal is going to build a solid team. They’re not going to get that by giving away prospects for a guy with that much baggage just so they can inch their way into the playoffs.

I am still confident that the Habs will make the playoffs this year. As a team that at best is an eighth place club, you will go through a stretch where you may drop 2 or 3 in a row. Tonight is a good time to get the ball rolling in the right direction(although it wont be easy). Personally I would rather see Habs Blog streaking down the right wing as opposed to Bertuzzi. The Habs just dumped a large container of baggage and they dont need to bring on an even larger container at this time! Gainey will make the right moves this summer with the extra cap space, and I wouldnt panic too much as this team is being built to be a serious contender in 2-3 years. So lets enjoy the last 16 games.